Barcelona 2013

Diving, Day 9: Golden 10m triumph for Qiu

Bo Qiu retained his 10m crown in spectacular style, defeating Olympic gold medallist David Boudia of the USA to bring China their ninth diving title out of 10 on offer at the FINA World Championships. Qiu uncorked two dives worth more than 100 points as well as a barrage of perfect 10 marks from the judges in a master class from the 10m tower. Qiu, the first man to retain the world platform crown since Russia's Dmitry Sautin in 1998, began inauspiciously in the first round after a shaky semi-final but only two of his six final dives turned out to be worth less than 99 points.

Qiu, Olympic silver medallist behind Boudia at the London Games, amassed a colossal 581.00 points to win by a vast 63.60 points from Boudia (517.40). The American dived consistently but had to settle for the silver behind Qiu for the second successive World Championships. Germany's Sascha Klein, who shared gold with Patrick Hausding in the 10m synchro, the only title to escape China at the Montjuic Municipal Pool, finished third with 508.55 points, repeating the world bronze he achieved in 2011. Tom Daley of Great Britain, the 2009 world champion ahead of Qiu, held third spot for two rounds in the middle of the competition but faded to sixth (470.60). Olympic bronze medallist Daley has been plagued by injury and said he had been happy just to make the final. It was China's fifth men's 10m win in 15 editions of the championships.

Diving, Day 8: He wins second Barcelona gold

Zi He claimed her second gold medal of the FINA World Championships when she added the 3m springboard title to the 1m crown she won four days earlier. He emerged triumphantly from the shadows of her illustrious predecessors Jingjing Guo and Minxia Wu and swooped to China's eighth Barcelona diving title out of nine so far contested, with one final still to come. It was China's seventh successive win in the event, following Guo's unique set of five and the 2011 victory of Wu, who did not defend her individual title in Barcelona but won a 3m synchro gold medal for the sixth time.

He, world and Olympic 3m silver medallist behind Wu in 2011 and 2012, amassed 383.40 points from her five final dives for a clearcut victory ahead of Chinese team-mate Han Wang (356.25) and Canada's Pamela Ware (350.25). Wang, who already had a 1m silver and two 1m bronzes in her world championship medal collection, claimed her first medal on the 3m board in China's fifth one-two in the event.

Diving, Day 7: Golden treble for He on 3m board

Chong He won the men's 3m springboard crown for the third time in succession, storming through to scatter his rivals and bring China their seventh diving title out of eight so far contested at these FINA World Championships. He looked vulnerable for a while, with a slight blip in the third of the six rounds of dives, but bounced back magnificently to win by more than 36 points after team-mate and 2007 champion Kai Qin had blown his title hopes with a nightmare dive in the third round. Russia's Evgeny Kuznetsov looked as though he might deny the Chinese, just as fellow Russian Ilya Zakharov had done at the 2012 London Olympics. But He had other ideas, with two mighty dives at the end which brought him victory with 544.95 points. Kuznetsov claimed the silver (508.00) and Yahel Castillo gave Mexico their third diving bronze of the championships (498.30).Qin had to settle for fifth (473.25), behind Ukraine's Illya Kvasha (494.10), the 1m silver medallist in Barcelona.

Zakharov, who relegated Qin and He to silver and bronze at the London Olympics, failed to qualify for the final after finishing 14th in the semi-final at the Montjuic Municipal Pool. Qin and He, who won the 10m synchro crown ahead of Kuznetsov and Zakharov earlier in the week, have now between them won the world 3m individual crown four times in succession, with He's treble matching the three golds won in the 3m springboard by Phil Boggs of the USA at the first three world championship editions in 1973, 1978 and 1982.

Diving, Day 6: Si upstages Olympic champion in world 10m duel

Fourteen-year-old Yajie Si dethroned defending champion Ruolin Chen, the Olympic gold medallist, in the final of the women's 10m platform at the FINA World Championships. Si, the youngest finalist, and Chen were exactly level after three of the five final dives, having astonishingly recorded precisely the same scores on each effort. Bu Si broke the deadlock in the fourth round as Chen faltered after Si had registered her own lowest score. The teenager then held her nerve in the final series and withstood a rousing challenge from the Olympic champion, whose final dive was not enough to bring her the gold. Chen, who had won her fourth successive world 10m synchro title earlier in the week, had been aiming to become only the second woman to retain the world individual 10m crown and emulate the great Mingxia Fu, who won in 1991 and 1994. It was the sixth Chinese one-two in the event and the seventh Chinese victory in 15 editions at the Worlds.

Si triumphed with 392.15 points, with Chen, four times Olympic champion, having won 10m and 10m synchro gold medals in 2008, less than four points adrift on 388.70. European champion Iulia Prokopchuk of Ukraine scooped the bronze on 358.40, more than 30 points behind the Chinese pair. It was the sixth diving title won by China out of the seven thus far contested in Barcelona. Only the men's 10m synchro, won by Germans Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding, has escaped them.

Olympic champion Zakharov fails to make men's 3m springboard final

Olympic champion Ilya Zakharov failed to qualify for the final of the men's 3m springboard at the FINA World Championships. The 22-year-old Russian had only just made it past the morning's preliminary round in which he finished 16th of the 18 semi-final qualifiers. But there was worse to come as he ended the day 14th in the semi-final, 1.90 points behind the last final qualifier, 12th-placed Sho Sakai of Japan.

Zakharov caused a shock at the 2012 London Olympics when he won the 3m crown ahead of China's Kai Qin and Chong He, who between them had won the three preceding World Championship titles. Qin and He led final qualifiers in Barcelona, Qin notching 493.65 points from his six semi-final dives and He 483.15. Evgeny Kuznetsov, who partnered Zakharov to the silver medals behind Qin and He in the 3m synchro springboard final at the Montjuic Municipal Pool earlier in the week, qualified third (476.00).

Diving, Day 4: Qin and He triumph in 3m synchro final

Double Olympic champion Kai Qin clinched an unprecedented fourth successive men's 3m synchro springboard gold, triumphing with new partner Chong He, himself a former winner of the event, and maintaining China's winning ways at the FINA World Championships.The victory was China's fifth in six diving finals so far contested in the Montjuic Municipal Pool and the second of the day, following Zi He's narrow win over Italy's Tania Cagnotto in the women's 1m springboard final. Qin and He led throughout to amass 448.86 points and win by 20.85 points but it was not an entirely straightforward victory on a day when none of the pairs was immune from error.

Russia's Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilia Zakharov, silver medallists behind Qin and Yutong Luo at the 2011 Worlds and 2012 Olympics, had to settle for silver again (428.01), while Mexicans Jahir Ocampo and Rommel Pacheco proved steadier than some of their more fancied rivals to take bronze (422,79). Zakharov, who beat Qin and He for the 3m individual gold at the 2012 Olympics, and Kuznetsov were seeking to emulate fellow countrymen Alexander Dobroskok and Dmitry Sautin, the only non-Chinese duo to win the event when they prevailed in 2003. But they could not prevent the Chinese from making it seven wins in eight editions of the World Championships.

Diving, Day 4: Zi He denies Cagnotto in close 1m duel

Zi He, an Olympic gold medallist last year, reclaimed the women's world 1m springboard title in a desperately close duel with European champion Tania Cagnotto, overtaking the Italian on the last dive of the final to win by just one-tenth of a point, the smallest margin in any diving event in the history of the World Championships. Cagnotto, who led through three of the five rounds of dives, could not have come closer in her bid to scoop Italy's first World Championship diving gold in 38 years since Klaus Dibiasi won the men's 10m title at the first two editions in 1973 and 1975.

Cagnotto, silver medallist in the 3m synchro springboard at these championships, was poised tantalisingly close to gold, having led at the end of the penultimate round by five points, but saw it snatched away by He, who unfurled the highest score of the final with a reverse 1-1/2 somersaults and 1-1/2 twists which earned her 66.30 points.That sealed China's fourth title out of five thus far contested in Barcelona, He, who previously won the world 1m crown in 2007, prevailing this time with 307.10 points, with Cagnotto having to settle for silver on 307.00 and He's Chinese team-mate Han Wang, who collected the bronze in 2009 and silver in 2011, taking bronze on 297.75.

Diving, Day 3: Fourth world 10m synchro gold for Chen

Olympic champion Ruolin Chen swooped to her fourth successive world 10m synchro gold medal when she partnered Huixia Liu to victory to bring China their third diving title in the first three days of the FINA World Championships.Chen, twice double Olympic champion in 10m individual and synchro, was diving at the Worlds with her fourth different partner but the result was the same as it had been at the last three editions of the championships: top spot on the podium by a big margin.

Diving against the stunning backdrop of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia basilica, with the city of Barcelona spread beneath, Chen and Liu flew high in a class of their own, soaring to gold with 356.28 points from their five final dives.Experience counted as Canada's Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, bronze medallists at the 2005 Worlds and the 2012 Olympics, took the silver(331.41) and Malaysia's Pandelela Rinong Pamg and Mun Yee Leong, world bronze medallists in 2009, bronze again (331.14).

Diving, Day 3: Li retains world 1m springboard title

Shixin Li became the first man to retain the world 1m springboard crown, stretching China's hold on the event and bringing the leading diving nation its second World Championship title in three days. But China, who had claimed gold and silver in the 1m event for the last three World Championships, were denied a second medal as European champion Illya Kvasha of Ukraine and Alejandro Chavez of Mexico claimed silver and bronze.

Li trailed for the first four rounds of the six-round final but was always in contention, finally seizing the lead in the fifth round with an excellent inward 2.5 somersaults.

Diving, Day 2: German duo beats Chinese favourites in men's 10m synchro final

Germany's Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding pulled off a major coup when they defeated Olympic champions Yuan Cao and Yanquan Zhang to deny China the men's 10m synchro diving title in a thrilling final at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona.

The Chinese pair started like the favourites they were and led after three rounds of the six-dive final, their progress starred with maximum 10 scores - no less than seven from the 11 judges in the second round. But they came badly unstuck in the fourth round and were eventually relieved to salvage bronze behind the German pair and Victor Minibaev and Artem Chesakov of Russia.